FCCA's 2014 Featured Marketing Partners tally gains

'The FCCA is proud to offer numerous ways for destinations’ private and public sectors to maximize cruise tourism’s impact,' said FCCA president Michele Paige. 'Marketing with the FCCA catches the attention of the cruise lines’ most influential decision-makers.' 

'Working with the FCCA over many years has been an excellent opportunity to showcase the US Virgin Islands as an accessible, cruise-friendly destination,' said Beverly Nicholson-Doty, commissioner of tourism, US Virgin Islands. 'Our partnership has been mutually beneficial and effective in reaching the cruise industry's key players.'

The Dominican Republic’s Amber Cove will open in late 2015 and is expected to draw eight Carnival ships and more than 100,000 passengers between October and April 2016. Plus, the other Dominican Republic ports experienced a 25% increase in passenger arrivals between 2012 and 2014, according to data provided by FCCA member lines.

The same data shows similar results for the rest of FCCA’s Featured Marketing Partners. Aruba posted a 12% rise in passenger arrivals between 2011 and 2014; Colombia received 9% more passengers in 2014 than in 2012; Cozumel hosted nearly 600,000 more passengers in 2014 than in 2013—a 23% gain; Mexican ports, excluding Cozumel, catered to more than 440,000 additional passengers in 2014 than in 2013—a 28% increase.

More than 220,000 incremental passengers visited Puerto Rico in 2014, compared to 2012—an 18% difference; more than 275,000 additional passengers—also an 18% rise—disembarked at Port St. Maarten in 2014, compared to 2013; and the USVI received 37 more calls in 2014 than in 2013, a 6% increase, along with numerous cruise executives and Platinum Members as St. Croix hosted the FCCA PAMAC Summit and displayed its offerings. St. Croix projects a 37% passenger increase in 2015, compared to 2013.

The growth in passenger arrivals extends beyond the cruise pier; they impact destinations’ entire economies. According to the Business Research & Economic Advisors 2012 study, Economic Contribution of Cruise Tourism to the Destination Economies, the overall average expenditure per passenger was $95.92, which benefited numerous industries through purchases of goods and services. Plus, more ships bring more crew, with an average expenditure of $96.98, more cruise line spending and more employment revenue.

By these numbers, a single additional call from an average ship—130,000gt, 1,040 feet long, carrying 3,000 passengers and 500 crew—generates $287,760 in passenger spending, $48,490 in crew spending and roughly $15,000 in port fees. This ship would account for $351,250 in direct economic contribution, not including wage labor and indirect contributions.